Leonardo da Vinci sketched a conical parachute in 1485.
His drawing shows a pyramid-shaped canopy made from linen, with a wooden frame intended to keep the fabric open. Leonardo wrote that a person could jump from a great height while descending safely if the structure were properly made. The design is one of the earliest detailed European parachute concepts preserved in a technical notebook.
Leonardo did not test the parachute, and the original design was not a modern parachute in shape or equipment. Its rigid frame would have made it heavy and potentially dangerous. The idea is still significant because it clearly describes controlled descent by creating air resistance before practical parachutes existed.
The concept is sometimes confused with Leonardo’s flying machines. A parachute is not intended to provide powered flight or sustained ascent; it slows a fall. In 2000, British skydiver Adrian Nicholas tested a full-scale replica based on Leonardo’s drawing and reported that it descended successfully, although he used a modern parachute for the final landing.